Mental states: When they matter to moral judgments and when they don’t

Tom R. Kupfer, Daniel M. T. Fessler, Juan P. Arroyave, Christopher S. Kovel, Alex Lambert, Carlton Patrick, Harry Purser and Paul Troop

Chapter 11 in Research Handbook on Social Judgment, 2026, pp 173-192 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Mental states are central to moral judgment, yet the weight they receive is not uniform. We review evidence that mind-contingency varies systematically across (a) judgment types—wrongness, blame, punishment; (b) developmental stage and neurodiversity (in infancy or with autism); (c) cognitive conditions (time pressure, cognitive load); (d) social relationships (kin, strangers, outgroups); (e) legal regimes (mens rea v. strict liability); (f) cultural ecologies (relational mobility, collectivism, “opacity of mind”); and (g) moral content (harm, purity, loyalty, etc.). We integrate these findings with a cost–benefit model of mental-state deployment. Mental states are used facultatively—people seek out and integrate (or ignore) information about a wrongdoer's intentions when the expected benefits (future coordination, reputation for fairness) outweigh the costs (cognitive effort, risk). When integrated, that information is weighted flexibly, for example, unintentionality cues carry more weight for a relative than for a stranger. Because these trade-offs vary by context, moral judgments, and the norms and laws they shape, and are shaped by, span a continuum from fully mind-contingent to effectively mind-ignoring.

Keywords: Moral Judgement; Mental States; Evolutionary Psychology; Cognitive Flexibility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035332533
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